News Release

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Sun Valley Vehicle Pursuit Results in Officer-Involved Shooting

Los Angeles: An officer-involved shooting (OIS) occurred after a suspect who led officers on a short vehicle pursuit exited his vehicle armed with a handgun and immediately shot at officers.

On July 10, 2010, two uniformed Los Angeles Police Officers were driving a black and white police vehicle in the area of Lankershim Boulevard and Cantara Street. At around 6 p.m., officers went in pursuit of a possible DUI driver who was later identified as Javier Rueda.

Rueda fled from police and drove to the area of Penrose Street and Claybeck Avenue in Sun Valley. The car chase ended suddenly when he stopped his vehicle and exited with a handgun. Rueda immediately began shooting at the officers, at which time an officer-involved shooting occurred. One officer suffered a gunshot wound and is in stable condition. The second officer suffered a fracture and is also listed in stable condition. Rueda also suffered gunshot wounds and was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Shortly after Rueda was paroled from a state prison, he was transferred into the Non-Revocable Parole program that was developed for low-level, nonviolent offenders. He was on active parole and is a documented gang member.

Force Investigation Division (FID) detectives responded and are handling the officer involved shooting. The FID Criminal Apprehension Team is investigating the crime against the officers. Due to the potential threat to the involved officers, their names have been withheld.